Opinion: It’s been a week of weak corporate stances against guns, NRA

By Mike Russell | March 1, 2018 at 10:13 amUPDATED: May 2, 2018 at 10:18 am

(AP Photo/John Locher, File)

I received a text on Wednesday morning asking why anyone would buy guns at Dick’s Sporting Goods.

I hadn’t read the headlines yet — truth be told, I didn’t even have my coffee yet — so I looked it up and, sure enough, Dick’s Sporting Goods had taken a stand.

Dick’s announced that they will no longer sell, “assault-style” rifles. By the way, they know better than to use the term “assault-style” because “assault” is not a type of rifle.

They went on to announce that they are also pulling high-capacity magazines and will not sell any firearm to someone under the age of 21.

Additionally, they called on Congress to pass legislation banning these rifles, upping the minimum purchase age to 21, expanding background checks, compiling a universal database of prohibited possessors, and to close the gun show loophole.

Social media erupted with praise as Dick’s had fallen in line with several other corporations that are taking a stand for gun control.

Most were corporate discount sponsors for NRA members that have severed ties with the lobbying organization.

These stands are nothing more than weak PR stunts taking advantage of consumers during a time of tragedy.

Let’s start with the above mentioned Dick’s Sporting Goods, whose social media mentions shot through the roof after it received mountains of free national news press.

Dick’s took a similar stance in 2012 after Sandy Hook. What they failed to tell the public was that they continued selling AR-15s at their 35 Field and Stream stores.

How do we know that this is all for show? Dick’s will continue to sell hunting rifles and handguns. FBI stats show that every style of rifle combined only makes up 1 percent of firearm deaths annually. Dick’s knows that not selling AR-15s will have little or no impact on gun violence.

If they wanted to take a real stand, they would stop selling firearms all together.

Here is the list of companies that have used this tragedy for a few free mentions in the news instead of taking a real stand.

The First National Bank of Omaha: Will stop offering an NRA branded Visa Card.